1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to aggregating and pooling information.
2. Related Art
In programs that have a number of participants, it sometimes is desirable to aggregate information from those participants, so as to indicate to individuals in a population when the population (or a subset of that population) is achieving a selected goal. For example, in fund-raising events for an affinity group, it is often desirable to publicize to the individuals the progress of the fund-raising event toward a selected goal. Similarly, in an affinity group such as a weight-loss club, it would be advantageous to be able to publicize the collective results of the efforts of individuals in the affinity group.
One problem in the known art is that of collecting information from diverse sources, aggregating that information, and presenting that information to the individual members of the population. This problem is particularly exacerbated if the information to be collected is not available in any single location, and is further exacerbated if the individuals to receive the information to be publicized are not available in any single location.
The known art includes methods for aggregating and pooling information for bidding or otherwise conducting auctions using distributed communication systems. Some of these known methods include systems described as known art in the following applications:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,686, “Method for Conducting an On-Line Bidding Session with Bid Pooling,” filed Jun. 5, 1998, in the name of the same inventor, and assigned to the same assignee;                U.S. application Ser. No. 08/603,131, filed Feb. 20, 1996, issued on Aug. 11, 1998, as U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,219, in the name of the same inventor, and assigned to the same assignee.        
These applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, and are collectively referred to herein as the “On-Line Bidding Disclosures.” Although these applications describe other known art, no admission is made herein that any part of these applications are themselves known in the art.
In the On-Line Bidding Disclosures, individual users, coupled to a system using a communication network, are able to enter values into their client devices. The individual values are collected at a server device or other data clearinghouse. The individual values are aggregated or pooled. The aggregated or pooled information is used to determine whether the individual users, either individually or in sub-populations, are winners of the on-line auction.
Accordingly, it would also be advantageous to aggregate or pool information (whether medical, financial, or otherwise) so that the collective information could be publicized to participating individuals. This would be particularly advantageous in encouraging members of an affinity group to promote their individual efforts so as to cause the collective affinity group to achieve a selected goal, or in encouraging sub-populations of a population to promote their individual efforts so as to cause the collective efforts of each sub-population to match or exceed other sub-populations. These advantages are achieved in embodiments of the invention in which each individual uses a client device to enter values (either over a period of time, or in response to a prompt by the client device), and in which the aggregated or pooled information is presented by means of a broadcast medium or other communication technique. For example, members of a weight-loss club can aggregate their individual weight-loss each day, so that the aggregated results can be announced on a popular television show or displayed at their client devices.